The Chronicles of Somebody
by Dallas James
Summary: The beginning of a short story series surrounding the days I took for granted and how they became the footprints that lead me here.
1. Chapter 1

**Chronicles of somebody: Chronicle One**

**Starting back to about 5 years ago, my first year of high school was certainly an eye-opener to say the least. Filled with a fuck-load of more surprises than I could handle, the 13th year of my existence would prove to be a force to be reckoned with.**

I came from a catholic primary school in Scarborough, so I suppose all the praying was worth not even two shits when going into a public school, ironically enough the name of this particular institute was Churchlands.

I went there without many friends to follow me. At the time it seemed pretty tough and was even half-tempted to transfer to the catholic high-school next door, but luckily enough I met a kid named Neil.

Nothing really special about the guy, he was asian but not particularly smart nor dumb, he kinda set the average I suppose, that's about as much I can say in terms of his description, but thinking about it I would've probably left if it weren't for him, we remain good friends to this day.

By the third day I had pretty much sussed out how things where in terms of social status or reputation, and I had prepared myself to also be given a number on the social ladder, but I suppose at the time I was still a kid, so I didn't really find it a major concern.

You could pick out the social groups though, the clashing groups for majority of the population at the school were the popular people, I.e sporty rebellious guys and the pretty girls who decided that the skirts weren't short enough. The other group was pretty much composed of just people who didn't associate themselves to a particular group but ironically became a group because of the hill located behind the library in which every morning, recess and lunch they would flock to.

I suppose I belonged to this neutral group and gladly accepted it as my social stance at the school. The only stance or group that I believed to not be full of complete fuck-wits, sure the neutral was composed of a few but with a school as large as this, inevitably it had to happen.

Winter, sitting on a bench being sheltered by the rain and waiting for the line at the canteen to subside. I didn't find much logic in waiting in that godforsaken line, even if you had a place and progressed, people would always cut and by the end the thing you wanted to eat would be sold and an appropriate "fuck." would be uttered quietly under your breath.

I brought my own lunch to eat mostly, the canteen deserts is what I wanted, always had stock and the selection wasn't too vast but it tasted good either way.

After scavenging what I could I retreated back to the hill. If anyone can relate I'm sure they could when I say that there are some real idiots out there who don't know how to intimidate someone for money.

"Oi cunt money ." the kid said.

I looked at him blankly, looked behind me to see if he was referring to anyone else, and then kept walking. The boy swore loudly in vain only to be sent to the office by a teacher, a creative way to get sent home...maybe not the smartest.


	2. Chapter 2

The Chronicles of Somebody: Chronicle 2

They were certainly the kind of days that I wish I could relive and even at my age I still can't help but feel so damn old looking back at the links in that chain of memories.

Near the end of the first year of high school, I suppose you could say I had naively believed that this entire secondary schooling was going to be an easy ride since I did so well in the first round of testing and scores on my report card. The last day, all of us on the edge of our seats, bags already on our backs, as if we were about to be told to charge out of a trench, the hands of that godforsaken clock was all that held us back what would be an inevitable stampede.

"Does anyone have any remaining queries?" The Teacher inquired.

"Why would you ask that on the very last day of the year?" I whispered to myself.

A valid question indeed, but for my sake I kept it reserved. The siren rang. For me at this point, time had seemed to slow down, as we all leapt out of our seats, pushing and shoving our way to the door. Now the reason surrounding this animalistic behaviour was the longing for a seat on the bus ride when going home, why? Well simply because it was summer and to hell with standing on a bus without air-conditioning amongst nearly 40 other sweaty teenagers.

Luckily I was one of few who lead the way to the bus stop, I made the mistake of looking back to see a horde of teenagers, each and every one filled with bloodlust for a seat. Excuse the over exaggeration but I was seriously shitting myself. The satisfaction of having a seat on the bus couldn't be described by any sort of fancy adjective to make me sound smart creative, I'll end it at the fact that it was good, simple enough.

During the summer holidays, which lasted for about just over two months, the weekends where we would just do nothing all day and stay up all night playing games or watching movies were probably days I really missed, but looking back at the summer of 2005 it was certainly nothing in comparison to the chronicles that were to follow it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chronicles of Somebody: Chronicle 3

The water, the beach and the images of beautiful women in tightly fitted bikinis where swiftly swept from my reality as I once again walked through the gates in my uniform, to be met only by the sweltering heat and the brightness of the sun. The reunification of friends and familiar faces that bothered to acknowledge and smile was a good feeling to return to, but still couldn't help but let out a sigh as I thought about another year at school, the 9th year to be exact.

That classroom odour of gum, whiteboard marker and other smells I couldn't put my finger on, gave me an unwanted sense of nostalgia. You get the idea; I wish I was still on holidays. The first subject I sat down to was English, a subject I wasn't too bad at, in fact you might even say it was the only academic lesson or part of school that I liked because of my passion for writing stuff that sounded mysterious and puzzling yet complex.

I was asked "What do I think has changed since starting high school?" I found this question hard to answer since I didn't really pay much attention to how I developed more about how others developed around me and how they acted differently from when I had only briefly met them. I suppose you could say I was a little more self-confident since now I was deeply entrenched into the schooling system and impressed with even my own scores at the end of year 8. I suppose as I thought about it more, people became more comfortable around me, as if they turned to me as a person they could be led by, I didn't think so.

I never thought I could be any sort of influence until one particular day. Returning to the hill at lunch, a familiar Bogan voice started shouting and demanding monetary reimbursement for that time in year 8 where I simply walked past him when he demanded money. I turned to face him and said.

"You're annoying, just fuck off you limp dick."

I suppose it wasn't the smartest thing to say to a boy who didn't seem medically "all there". He ran towards me at top speed, in all honesty I was shit scared and unsure what to do, since the scene caused a wild crowd to appear, the adrenaline kicked in as he got closer. I took all my knowledge of fighting, which was mostly seen on television sadly, and held a stance ready for the connection of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

He was about half-way when I decided standing here wasn't going to be enough, I took off in an uncontrolled sprint towards him as fast as I could. This is pretty much one of those times when just like in the movies, everything slows down and that one moment in your life becomes a temporary eternity. Without thinking about it I turned my body side-on with my right shoulder facing him. This time was also the time when I developed what I like to call the "zero fear" state of mind, when you don't think, you don't worry, and you just go for it with all might. We connected, a thump rippled from the point of impact and luckily my force won over his and sent him backwards landing on his back. What happened after didn't matter, I had won my first confrontation, and it's like winning an award for the first time, pure satisfaction. By that time I was respected for my level strength and for that I think I won a lot friendship for it, because I stood up for myself despite making a lifetime enemy. Courage is the word I would use but I think I've drawn a dick big enough on my forehead for recalling such a memory in that manner.

I suppose a big part of high school should be women, sure they were I liked a lot of girls, or more appropriately found them attractive but soon realized that I was out of league with most of them because I wasn't a footballer, skater or surfer. I wasn't too let down by it, I still tried when I could and mostly failed at every attempt, but I stand by the ideal that if you're going to openly say to others that you like someone then you should tell it to their face or else your just seeking attention and using the sickeningly cute emotions set by the community to force the person to be with you or else she'll be the bitch and you'll be the heartbroken victim and be all: "Oh woe is me." Fuck that.

I had this sense of being noble or chivalrous to people acting like old fashioned people would back in the days of black and white, before the strayed view of technicolor sent conservatism out the window. It was a flaw of mine but also an advantage, since keeping that way my heart stayed the same and even now looking back I never really changed too drastically like most, and I don't mean for the better either.

It was only the beginning for me, I really had no idea how big things were about to get going through the 9th year in my 14th year of existence, but that's another story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chronicles of Somebody: Chronicle 4**

A chronicle of somebody. Someone like me, a 14 year old kid facing the troubles of high school just like everyone else, I suppose there's not much about it that's too fancy or extraordinary, only the fact that I can recall it clearly in a chain of memories that I broke, slowly bringing the links together and bringing back old memories not all of them happy and not all of them sad. I think you could say it's like trying to contact myself 5 years in the past.

Still in year 9, still stuck in these stupid demountable classrooms that the school invested in, sorry I didn't mean invest, I meant threw my parents money into a trough and fed it to the government. Air-conditioning was less than adequate, sir how am I supposed to think about percentages, chance and data when the chances of me sweating profusely are 75% greater than me being able to learn something?

Aside the echo of bitching that afternoon I started doubting the system that I was entrenched in as most others did as well. The way bad behaviour was dealt was nothing short of piss-weak on the teacher's part, I went into high school thinking I would be held by my thumbs in a dungeon if I misbehaved, man was I let down, I forgave teachers later on though, as I figured out that society saw punishment to be right next to abuse when it came to children, hell if I was a teacher I'd hit them back into place. With the kind of attitudes that I came across in class, I really contemplated whether we should have birth control, and that's not even a joke.

As I walked out of the classroom the warm wind brushed against me and despite it still being hot as hell, it felt good to have been caught by the breeze. Lunch was probably the only time I had at school to have any of my own time to myself. I threw my bag onto the pile which had been made by others at the hillside, the view from the hill overlooking the oval wasn't spectacular but it gave a sense of scale when considering how big the place was. Just sitting there and watching was pretty serene even the wind managed to add a cool sensation to the mood.

I brought up my watch, was time to head over to the canteen and scrounge for leftovers certainly a ghetto state of mind I'll agree, but luckily for me everyone decided to be stupid and enjoy the heat whilst I got all the food. Note: I am not fat; I simply love food too much to stop eating. With each dive into my chocolate chip muffin I thought about the weekend, even though it was Wednesday, and what I should do. Weekends back then weren't much about parties or drinking, it all revolved around sleep overs for me until year 10 or 11, just inviting or going to someone's place to watch a movie, play video games and of course eat a shit-load of junk food. Comparing the two I suppose the old way was safer but adolescence brings about a thirst for adventure and a hunger for risk. I was always keen to enter that scene, like everyone, but I had this notion that I had to be invited to everything, and I suppose it was a mistake I made because I didn't go out into the fray, too afraid of rejection and embarrassment.

We all grow out of it eventually, some sooner than others, but I found that it's just a phase, resemblant to the first steps you take as a child. Progress is found in baby steps, but feats can only be conquered through leaps of faith. Heaving my bag home that day was no easy task, most can relate, we all were stupid enough to bring everything that we didn't need that day and even then still relied on our diaries with our very lives, when I first lost my diary, going to the student services department was similar to that of a walk of shame, and five dollars less in pocket for lunch. I am not amused. I let out struggling grunt as threw my bag onto my bed, its weight made it look like the bed was absorbing most of its mass. Just lying there looking at the ceiling and closing my eyes, I could never find much solace, or rather I was never sure where to look for the best place, but right there and then in present I was as calm as could be.

There was no school, there was no insecurity and there was nothing that irritated me. At the time I thought that it was the perfect combination, but looking back at all those times that bugged, I figured that I needed them to grow, to make those obstacles into a bridge for me to cross into the next stage of life, not that I've crossed many, but I've crossed a few and thats better than none.


	5. Chapter 5

Chronicles of Somebody: Chronicle 5

How could forget days like those? The days that just went so fast in a flash and then the next second you wish it had lasted just a little longer, even if it were for a second. The drops of rain, which would randomly appear without warning, fell softly upon my head and as quickly as it appeared, the intensity increased a sudden storm upon the small, isolated city of Perth.

I usually love the rain. It makes me sleep easier and allows me to relax, however this unfortunate occurrence brought about a certain disdain for it. It's incredibly bad timing. Walking through the rain to the bus stop with a heavy bag on my back, I couldn't help just imitating that familiar moment you see in films when you just generally look like a badass. I probably looked ridiculous with that focused stare but I just had to.

The rain made summer tolerable. Unlike some of the other places I had travelled on Earth, Perth's weather was very temperamental in the sense that no amount of information given on the news by the young, sexy weather girl would be able to predict the weather. Spontaneous is what you might call our weather.

I suppose it was appropriate to have such shit weather. It was shit day anyways. I don't know why, or rather I couldn't remember why after feeling so angry and sooky. Looking back at it I feel a little embarrassed to think I was like that, but I learned that most teenagers experience the same things if not similar. I watched each drop trickle down the window of the bus. It kept me amused for a while or more specifically kept my mind off the stupid things at school that often taunted me to be aggressive and just anti-social.

Stupid things; like having to explain myself out of rumours that appear out of nowhere. I wouldn't be able to tell you what influenced or even fuelled them in the first place. A wave of melancholy really did pass over for a while trying to fix it. I mean generally I always I thought I didn't give a shit about what people thought. That just being myself was enough.

It's true that being yourself is the best way to help a soul grow. Being true to who you are as a person rather than living behind a mask of lies and wearing kid gloves that had more dirty on their surface than your own. I followed by that like a creed. I found out however that if you really want to be yourself, truthfully without any unfaithfulness to your soul, then you have to do everything you can to protect it so that no one can turn what you are into a prop to be used and thrown aside when usefulness runs dry.

I'm sad to say that maybe I could've protected myself better instead of hiding behind a laugh, pretending to think that I was alright with what had been said but I'm also proud to say that realizing it has made me a stronger person and brought me a step closer to becoming who I'm meant to be. Taking the leap of faith isn't easy. It requires a lot of courage to jump into the void and be swallowed by chance and uncertainty. Courage is the key.

That year I learnt that I had courage, but I just didn't know how to utilize it effectively. I remain glad with the laughs echoing in the 365 days that I lived. The setting sun made me realize that it was the end of the day, but despite being in darkness I always knew a new day would rise and I would most certainly rise with it. No holding back: zero fear.


End file.
